Eye cup dispenser



United Itates Patent fifice ?atenteci July 17, 1956 EYE CUP DISPENSER Henry Burbig, New York, and Arthur Dolan, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 26, 1954, Serial No. 445,746 4 Claims. (Cl. 128-249) This invention relates to an eye cup and dispensing device therefor. 4 v

Among the objects of this invention is to provide an eyecup and solution container combination in which the eyecup can be filled from the bottom without opening the container.

' Among other objects of the invention is to provide an eye-cup attachment for bottles, etc., which attachment is adapted to act as a stopper for the bottle and is'adapted to be filled for use without removing said attachment from the bottle.

These objects and others ancillary thereto are obtained by providing an eye-cup with a very effective valve mechanism in the bottom thereof and of providing pressure means to force liquid from the container through said valve into the eye-cup. The valve must be effective to prevent any return of the liquidto the container once" it passes through said valve to said, cup; Thus contamination of the liquid in the cup is prevented. The liquid can be forced into the cup by pressure from a flexible plastic container or by a pump action device.

The invention both as to its organization and its method of operation together with additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the parts of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view of a second form of the invention.

Figs. 46 are detail views showing other modified forms of the valve structure.

Figs. 1 and 2 relate to the pump action device which is suitable for a glass or solid container for the eye wash solution. This form of device comprises the eye cup having the side walls 11 and rim 12 adapted to fit the eye: ball. A skirt 13 encloses the lower part of the eye cup 10 to prevent any leakage from bottle from dropping on one using the eye cup when the bottle and eye cup are inverted.

The cup 10 is attached to central plug 15 by screw threads 14 so that the cup 10 can be removed for sterilizing. The plug 15 contains external threads 16 and has an opening 17 in its lower portion which, however, does not extend all the way through the same but connects with a series of smaller holes 18 spaced from the axis of the plug. The plug 16 contains a center opening 19 in the top portion adapted to receive the valve cap 25. This cap is made of thick material which is flexible under pressure to a limited degree but which material returns to its original shape immediately upon removal of the pressure. The cap 25 contains an enlarged bulbular end portion thereof. portion 56 is fitted into the central opening 52 from the to reciprocate in cylinder 35 to provide the pumping action. The' tube 30 being attached to plug 15 is normally forced'to itsmost upward position by spring 34. One end of spring 34 bears against plug 15 and the other end bears against cup 45 which closes the opening 'ofthe bottle 20 and also closes the end'of cylinder 35 The upward movement of the tube 30 is stopped by shoulder 32- which contacts gasket or washer 33. There is a small space between opening 46 in cap 45 and the smaller end of tube 30 which permits air to entercy'linder 35 when tube 30 is pressed downwardly.

Cylinder 35 contains air holes 36 in the upper part thereof permitting air. to enter-bottle 21) to replace liquid removed from same. The lower end of cylinder35 contains openings 37 spaced from the center which communicates with tube 40. A central opening 38 for a valve plug 41 having bulbular end portion 42 similar to the plug 25.

.In operation, the container 20 is filled with eye washing solution and when it is desired to Wash the eye,

.the eye cup 10 is pressed toward bottle 20 several times until enough solution is pumped through tube 40, cylinder 35, tube 30 and past valve plug 25 to fill the cup to the desired level. Then the cup is fitted to the eye and the assembly inverted as customary in using such eye cups except that in this case the container 20 is retained attached to the eye cup.

In the modified form of the device shown in Fig. 3 the plastic bottle Sliwith collapsible sides acts as the pump. The bottle 50 has an opening'52 surrounded by a plurality of radial openings 53 in the upper shoulder The valve cap 55 containing the bulbous inside of the bottle. The cap 55 and holes 33 cooperate to form a valve to admit air into the bottle 50 after pressure applied to the walls of the bottle 50 is released.

Sealed in the top of the bottle 50 is the funnel mem ber 57 to which is fixed the tubular member 58. The

funnel 57 seals off the air in the top of the bottle fromth'e area above the mouth 5? so that pressure onthe sidesjof bottle 50 force only air through valve 25' into eye cup 10'. -Eye cup 10' is internally threaded in the skirt portion 13' so as to screw onto the mouth 59. The valve plug 25 is attached directly to eye cup 10 ing 19 and the liquid enters the cup through openings 18'. In this device if desired the eye cup can be disconnected from bottle 54 after filling.

The valve structure of the devices of the invention is very important since the proper valve structure prevents leakage during use of the eye cup and prevents contamination of the unused liquid inside of the container. In general it has been found that a most satisfactory valve structure comprises one or more small orifices opening on a relatively large flat surface area at the bottom of the eye cup together with a relatively thick flexible fiat cup adapted to extend over and beyond the small orifices and i to fit closely and flatly against the flat surface area at the bottom of the cup. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show similar efiec tive valve structures. In Fig. 4, the cup 4- 10 has a button projection 4-26 extending upwardly from the bottom thereof. The button projection 426 holds the flatrubber disk 425 thereon which acts as the capping means for closing openings 418 in the bottom of cup 4-10.

The cup 5- 19 of Fig. 5 has a bottom portion 5-}15 which contains one large opening 517. The cap device 5--25 has a flat top portion S-27, which acts as thevalve cap, the intermediate portion 5-28 and the lower retaining portion 5-26 containing openings 5- 18. The edges of the lower retaining portion 526 are adapted to fit snugly into the shouldered area 5-15 of the bottom 5--14.

through open- In the form shown in Fig. 6, the cup 610 is substantially the same as in Fig. 3 except that the single cloverleaf shaped orifice 6-18 replaces the openings 18' and 19 of Fig. 3. In Figs. 4-6 the lower skirt portions, 4-13, 5-13 and 6-13, etc, are adapted to fit on the plastic bottle 50 of Fig. 3 but it is obvious that modified forms of the valve structures shown in Figs. 4-6 can be employed with the plug of Fig. l.

The material of the valve caps 25, 4-25, 5-25, etc. has been described as being of rubber but it will be understood that the term rubber includes all elastomeric compounds such as the synthetic rubbers, natural rubber and rubber substitutes.

The features and principles underlying the invention described above in connection with specific exemplifica tions will suggest to those skilled in the art many other modifications thereof. It is accordingly desired that the appended claims shall not be limited to any specific feature or details thereof.

We claim:

1. In a dispensing eye cup for eye lotion containers. an eye cup having a fiat bottom element with at least one fluid conducting orifice extending through said fiat bottom, a flexible rubber valve cap element comprising a flat surfaced disk portion adapted to cover and overlap the said orifices, one of said flat bottom element and said valve cap element comprising a neck with an enlarged head at the end thereof extending from a flat surface thereof and the other of said elements comprising an opening adapted to receive said neck but of smaller size than said head for normally holding said flat disk portion of said rubber valve cap tightly against the flat bottom surface of said eye cup, means for attaching said eye cup to the mouth of a container with the flat bottom element thereof adjacent an opening in the mouth of said container.

2. In a dispensing eye cup for eye lotion container, an

eye cup having a flat bottom element with at least one fluid conducting orifice extending through said flat bottom, a flexible rubber valve cap element comprising a fiat surfaced disk portion adapted to cover and overlap the said orifices, one of said flat bottom element and said valve cap element comprising a neck with an enlarged head at the end thereof extending from a fiat surface thereof and the other of said elements comprising an opening adapted to receive said neck but of smaller size than said head for normally holding said flat disk portion of said rubber valve cap tightly against the flat bottom surface of said eye cup, means for attaching said eye cup to the mouth of a container with the flat bottom; element thereof adjacent an opening in the mouth of said container and means adapted to force liquid from said container to which the eye cup is attached through said orifices in the bottom of the eye cup.

3. In the eye cup device as set forth in claim 2 in which said means for forcing liquid from the container to the eye cup comprises a pump mechanism attached to the lower side of the bottom of said eye cup.

4. In the eye cup device as set forth in claim 2 in which the eye cup is attached to a resilient plastic container, tubular liquid guide means extending from the mouth of said plastic container toward the lower portion thereof, the upper portion of said tubular liquid guide means sealing off the mouth of said container from the remainder of said container, and valve means in the upper portion of said plastic container, adapted to admit air to the container after the container has been squeezed and released.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

